if he checks out medically I would be all for this. Grabbing a legit left tackle pre draft is huge. You can move flowers to right tackle or have him compete inside. This draft is full of good guards and late round quality tackles. This signing, if it happens, will be huge

The team is in a dangerous position. The OL market heading into FA wasnít particularly robust to begin with and quite a few of the more appealing lesser tier options, such as Chris Hubbard, are already off the table. They will have to be able to pivot quickly toward Fleming. Otherwise they may find themselves looking at older stop gap options rather than actually making progresss toward finding youthful productive players that are part of a long term solution. It would also make it more imperative to use our already limited draft picks on the OL limiting our flexibility in he draft and our ability to address other areas.

This may sound overly dramatic but I donít think Iím that off-base. There are other options after Solder but few LTs make it to the market and as Whitworth proved, they can still be effective into their 30s. Solder gives us breathing room and flexibility.

.....outside of missing most of the 2015 season with a torn biceps. That same year he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but it was treated and went into remission. His 3-year old son has had a form of kidney cancer since he was a baby. That's why some believe he won't uproot from the Boston area because all of their doctors are there.

at LT, more expensive , injury-prone ,and, perhaps, only marginally better than they are now. Iíd rather they role the dice with Wheeler and move Flowers over. But if Gettleman is in, let it be all in . Get your guy .

at LT, more expensive , injury-prone ,and, perhaps, only marginally better than they are now. Iíd rather they role the dice with Wheeler and move Flowers over. But if Gettleman is in, let it be all in . Get your guy .

Only marginally better? In what fucking world? He's the starting LT for the best team ever. Injury prone? He's missed 13 games in 7 years and 12 of them were in one season. Please don't talk if you don't know what you are talking about.

My (dated) recollection is that there's not much there. They did have a great diner back (back, back) in the day. Worth the drive over.

Anyway, if it's only Texas and us, then perhaps the location works in our favor, in terms of what people had mentioned being New England's draw...being close to his son's doctors. NY is an easy move in that regard. OTOH, MD Anderson has some awesome oncologists.

Now we can draft a good OG in the 2nd or 3rd round. Much better OG prospects then OT prospects. So signing Norwell would have left us fucked at OT. Signing Solder would leave us in good position in the draft.

Very true, if it's money, he will choose the Texans likely. However, for the other very real issues in his life, with his child's health and access to doctors, NYC is a pretty good place to live. And if they want to have quick access back to doctors in Boston, it's just an hour flight away from LaGuardia to Logan. It's not an easy decision.

Build thru the draft stop picking up others trash for way more than they are worth always my theory. Tell me who in the hell signed for true value in the last 12 hours teams just threw away millions of dollars.

I want DG to take his money and go home after the draft fill the team with UDFA for little or nothing build a roster of young guys. Look the Phins can release Sue not the player they hoped he would be but much better than most of our DL presently. Still I would not sign him the money needed to do that is just not worth it proven fact.

Build thru the draft stop picking up others trash for way more than they are worth always my theory. Tell me who in the hell signed for true value in the last 12 hours teams just threw away millions of dollars.

I want DG to take his money and go home after the draft fill the team with UDFA for little or nothing build a roster of young guys. Look the Phins can release Sue not the player they hoped he would be but much better than most of our DL presently. Still I would not sign him the money needed to do that is just not worth it proven fact.

As a public school teacher, I would like to apologize to all tax payers. We have failed.

The structure of the deal matters a lot in my opinion. If substantial guaranteed money extends past two years, this won't be a good deal. However, if Solder is signed to play here for a year or two while we groom someone we draft, then this is a great signing.

Yeah, I was saying that before. MD Anderson is a fantastic place. I do not think that it would be going out on a limb to say that he would not find better care in Boston (Harvard Med, Dana Farber, Mass Gen, whatever) than he would at MD Anderson. Not saying it's worse either.

The one thing he wouldn't necessarily have there, though, is familiarity. People are generally loathe to switch doctors, especially for something specialized and major like this. He does have an established relationship, so the decision could be medical but independent of quality of care.

LT and move Flowers to RT where he is better suited and better than anything we had there last year. So we improve LT and RT with this move. Then we just need 2 guards, at least 1 we should be able to grab in the draft. The Stewart signing definitely has me thinking we are going QB in the 1st where he can help protect which would mean Eli probably finds a new team. He doesn't want to be Kurt Warner. That's my best guess.

Yeah, I was saying that before. MD Anderson is a fantastic place. I do not think that it would be going out on a limb to say that he would not find better care in Boston (Harvard Med, Dana Farber, Mass Gen, whatever) than he would at MD Anderson. Not saying it's worse either.

The one thing he wouldn't necessarily have there, though, is familiarity. People are generally loathe to switch doctors, especially for something specialized and major like this. He does have an established relationship, so the decision could be medical but independent of quality of care.

MD Anderson is one of the top cancer centers in the country. There were a few patients in Jax that would make the drive to Houston for treatment and back. MD Anderson has since opened a campus here in Jax. Another lady in Vicksburg did the same. My old girlfriend's brother is undergoing a clinical trial at MD Anderson and he is in Illinois.

I am not going to confirm or deny what JonC is saying b/c I have zero inside info. But I agree in the sense that Flowers shows no attributes of a good OG. While weight room strong, he doesn't convert it to power in the run game. His leverage game is very poor. If anything...and I am not optimistic, he is a RT where his length may serve him well, where he's not typically going against the top speed rushers.

The problem.....he wants to stay in NE
George from PA : 5:52 am : link : reply
So does Bill match?

The Pats know his physical history better than anyone, especially the concussions....

If someone comes knocking, and offers Solder an average of 13/14M per, I think he would jump on it, because no way is BB going to pay that for a LT, when the next highest salaried OLman is getting 4M.....BB has a history of releasing/trading players that don't meet his salary demands.....Mankins anyone?

Solder knows this, and the only way he stays if the guarantee money is there, because he knows BB does not honor the last years of big contracts....

As for the Giants, look at the salaries of all 5 starters in the OL last season.....add them up and it doesn't even equal what Solder made last season.....Reese tried to skimp on paying for the OL, so he could pay big bucks on the defensive side.....

I appreciate the info. Is there a sense missing out could lead to the selection of Nelson? I really hope not. I get it, we need to rebuild this Oline, but the #2 pick is a rare resource and no OG can provide the franchise altering impact you hope for. Chubb has the positional value, but I just don't see him on that level of talent.

I really hope they don't overthink this one --It really should be as simple as Darnold or Barkley, IMO.

It's the structure of the contract that matters, not the length per se. A lot of five-year contracts really are two-year deals with a three-year option for the team since they are easy to cut after the second year. And they wind up with big numbers for the agents to tout, but most of the number is hypothetical.

if you want to lock in Ereck Flowers at guard. It's a significant change to go from operating on the edge to working in a confined space. Footwork is even more important and that's never been any kind of strong point for him. Not saying it can't work, but in my amateur opinion, guard isn't just a recycling bin for players who aren't good enough to play tackle. The players we've seen make the position switch and be good contributors are guys that are a LOT more fundamentally rock solid than Ereck Flowers.

It's the structure of the contract that matters, not the length per se. A lot of five-year contracts really are two-year deals with a three-year option for the team since they are easy to cut after the second year. And they wind up with big numbers for the agents to tout, but most of the number is hypothetical.

On the draft front, the info I have is already a week old. The word was Barkley and Chubb are way up the board and sense was Nelson was behind them. No info on QB. Still six weeks to go and things could change, that's all I've got at the moment. I agree I'd go Darnold or Barkley, no interest in trading down and my limited looks at Chubb don't leave me thinking he's the #2 or #3 or #4 best prospect in this draft.

As for the braintrust, it's a new man in charge now and he values OL. Let's see if can lock up Solder.

Is real good. Not great but real good. I'd rate him as between the 8th and 12th best LT in football. Solid in protection and excellent in run game. 30 isn't old for tackles. Is say 4 years at 14 per is fine. That only takes him to age 33.

1) If this signing were to occur, I'd probably prefer Solder at LT than the Philly LT situation going forward. I'd also be concerned if I were Dallas about persistent back issues w/ Tyron Smith going forward.

2) NFC East LT position ranking isn't that relevant. Without a viable OL, especially LT, you lose the opportunity to develop the new QB (be it Webb or a rookie) or ride out the remainder of Manning's tenure effectively.

1) If this signing were to occur, I'd probably prefer Solder at LT than the Philly LT situation going forward. I'd also be concerned if I were Dallas about persistent back issues w/ Tyron Smith going forward.

2) NFC East LT position ranking isn't that relevant. Without a viable OL, especially LT, you lose the opportunity to develop the new QB (be it Webb or a rookie) or ride out the remainder of Manning's tenure effectively.

so the Giants would spend a ton of their cap on an OT. And still need more O-Linemen along with needing linebackers and now a secondary to replace DRC.

Yet you're making a point about "riding out Eli's tenure EFFECTIVELY?" What does "effectively" mean in terms of what would be your "expectation?"

rather not give Solder 13/14 million at his age, but that is the market for LTs, and we have no other options, especially if they are committed to Eli for another two years. And as someone said, this could solve two problems, because Flowers can move to RT.

As far as the draft, I'd prefer a small trade down, but am happy taking Barkley, Nelson, or Chubb in that order. Darnold would be my fifth option, and fourth choice.

1) If this signing were to occur, I'd probably prefer Solder at LT than the Philly LT situation going forward. I'd also be concerned if I were Dallas about persistent back issues w/ Tyron Smith going forward.

2) NFC East LT position ranking isn't that relevant. Without a viable OL, especially LT, you lose the opportunity to develop the new QB (be it Webb or a rookie) or ride out the remainder of Manning's tenure effectively.

so the Giants would spend a ton of their cap on an OT. And still need more O-Linemen along with needing linebackers and now a secondary to replace DRC.

Yet you're making a point about "riding out Eli's tenure EFFECTIVELY?" What does "effectively" mean in terms of what would be your "expectation?"

To be clear, I don't think Solder is = Tony Boselli. But he's a viable LT that allows your QB (Eli in the interim, but more importantly, he helps the protection of our new QB when that guy is selected and given time). It is not smart to introduce Webb or a rookie to NFL football in a similar fashion to how the Texans did it with David Carr.

He also allows NYG to move Flowers to RT where he has a chance to be adequate.

Lastly, it paves the way for premium draft picks to be spent where there is depth in the draft, the interior OL.

then Flowers moves to RT where he should be a better fit. Brett Jones is likely to start at center so that leaves both guard spots that need to be addressed. I fully expect this team to add a guard in the 2nd round with either Wynn, Hernandez, Price, or Smith.

That leaves the Giants with one spot to fill. One player to keep an eye on is Chad Wheeler. A few scouting reports suggested that he would be better at guard. He could compete to start at LG. If he wins the job he could potentially move outside in a couple of years to replace Solder or Flowers.

did for the Rams last year, I don't see how anybody could be against signing Solder. How about the impact a 37 year old Lomas Brown had on the Giants o-line in 2000. Everyone wants young, talented players, and I do as well. However, not every player has to be an upcoming star. Solder could be a very good player for us for 3-4 years, on an offense featuring some very good to exceptional talent at the skill positions.

Highly preferred Norwell, they tried and things didn't go the Giants way. A few other guys I had pegged as stop gaps aren't options. Only option outside of Solder may actually be Pugh, but both sides may have burned that bridge already. They'd have to get very creative in the 2nd phase of free agency, trades and/or the draft to avoid a repeat of last year's ineptitude on the unit.

If they can sign him for ~14m/yr and don't go nuts on the guarantees, I'm okay with out. Probably prefer that than giving Fleming what Hubbard got. If they drop their pants out of desperation, not so much. Kind of a beggers can't be choosers situation.

Giants, Texans, &Browns in on Solder. Browns making big run, which is concerning given their cap room

Joe Thomas set today as the deadline to decide whether he is retiring or not. The Browns with the amount of cap room that they have would be foolish to not pursue Solder. Even if Thomas does return, they can afford to have Solder as a back-up. It would not surprise me to see Thomas walk away. A former player once said that when you are contemplating retirement, you already are.

Have lots of cap tied up now in Hubbard, Bitonio, Zietler. Iíd be surprised if they went all in for Solder even if Thomas retires.

The Browns also gave JC Tretter a 3 year 16.75 million deal last year to go along with Donald Stephenson's 1 year 2.5 million this year. If Joe Thomas does retire they would save some cap room but I believe there would be some dead money as well. With their numerous picks I think the Browns will address LT in the second round of the draft. I could see them taking two OT's in round 2.

Thanks JonC, I appreciate you responding. With that said I hope they change their mind. I just think it is a huge mistake to pass on adding a potential franchise QB at 2. If it were up to me it would be QB or trade down.

Thanks JonC, I appreciate you responding. With that said I hope they change their mind. I just think it is a huge mistake to pass on adding a potential franchise QB at 2. If it were up to me it would be QB or trade down.

I totally agree. My preference would be Allen but none of these guys are perfect Andrew Luck like prospects...I am on board with whomever the NYG brass thinks is the best QB prospect.

Really surprising to me. Darnold may be a clean prospect with his eyes set on football and a lot of talent, but man he makes terrible terrible reads/throws...constantly. If that holds true he will be an INT machine in the NFL. He doesn't seem like a game manager at all and his delivery needs work. Rosen has such a better arm and seems more knowledgeable. Makes all the throws. I get people are worried about the character issues, but if hes dedicated to football, then who cares what his personality is like. Big Ben, Brady, Rogers, Wilson all have their personality quirks. They all seem a bit arrogant and are jerks at times.

I'd trust they know what they are doing if they take Darnold, but I will for sure be much more excited for Rosen.

It looks like we have our new LT. Hoping the money isnt too outrageous, because this is a SOLID get. When healthy, Solder is a huge upgrade at LT. Not sure where this moves Flowers, but I am excited to see DG getting to work on this OL. This is still a guard-heavy draft, so I expect a top 2 round pick to be used on that position.

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